Thread: Does cost of straights make for a better shave?

i thought this would be a good topic for some of the members to comment on.
i see a lot of straights going for big bucks, such as fili's and dubl ducks and such. i know some have questions in regards to how the cost relate to a great shave. I myself have both lower cost and higher cost straights. i do get great shaves from all price ranges. for example, i have a dovo and a gold dollar and both give a great shave.
your comments are welcome and i think will be helpful to all(especially newer members)

There will never be an answer to this. It's like anything else in life- does a more expensive toothbrush do a better job cleaning your teeth? Does a more expensive brand of shoes fit better than a cheap pair to every person who tries them? There are always examples of both sides of the argument. Anyone ever try that $30,000 damascus straight?

question is not clear i think.
(Or may be my language barrier). Better shave?
if we count how it shave ,how long edge lasts, how sharp blade takes edge then my answer to your questions will be YES.
In the other hand Phil goes almost 400.00 would i pay so much money for it My answer would be NO.
i will pay 150.00
Instead of phil i would buy WUSTOFF . will do exact same job or may be better.(hope this will not push their price up)
hope this helps.

Not in my experience. My most expensive razors don't perform any better than my Gold Dollar that I picked up most recently...

Originally Posted by hi_bud_gl

question is not clear i think.
(Or may be my language barrier). Better shave?
if we count how it shave ,how long edge lasts, how sharp blade takes edge then my answer to your questions will be YES.
In the other hand Phil goes almost 400.00 would i pay so much money for it My answer would be NO.
i will pay 150.00
Instead of phil i would buy WUSTOFF . will do exact same job or may be better.(hope this will not push their price up)
hope this helps.

all of your comments would be helpful. especially about the razors edge and how well it holds the edge, as related to average cost of any straight

I did a trade wth a guy .... he took some Gillette DEs for a C-Mon in mint condition and he threw in an unknown razor to sweeten the pot. It is stamped Salammarkos&Bros over Warranted. Nothing on the reverse tang. A 6/8 round point with bakelite handles.... boring. No rust or chips but dull. What would it bring on ebay ? I let it sit for months because it didn't excite me. I finally honed it up and it shaved as good as any Zowada, Ellis or any hot collector's item I ever shaved with. Go figure.

My best shaver is a Dovo I paid about 15$ for... I dont think something could shave 390$ better... or even 60$ better! Actually, it completely cured my RAD... but made me buy more soap instead.

I have had some very spendy blades that shaved great. I have also had some unheard of blades shave me just as well. The point is that you can shave with less expensive razors.


On the other hand, you can drive a Chevy to work or you can drive a Cadillac.

this might be a good time for some senior member to explain to us newbies about Gold Dollar razors. Who makes them? They are so cheap because....?,
are they any good?

thank you in advance

Originally Posted by JimmyHAD

I did a trade wth a guy .... he took some Gillette DEs for a C-Mon in mint condition and he threw in an unknown razor to sweeten the pot. It is stamped Salammarkos&Bros over Warranted. Nothing on the reverse tang. A 6/8 round point with bakelite handles.... boring. No rust or chips but dull. What would it bring on ebay ? I let it sit for months because it didn't excite me. I finally honed it up and it shaved as good as any Zowada, Ellis or any hot collector's item I ever shaved with. Go figure.

this is the type of comments i was looking for, thanks jimmy.
newer members will know they do not have to spend big bucks to get started and it also makes it fun for others to experiment with some unknown or little known blades. of course DO NOT ignore the list in the wiki of known terrible straights